UK Offshore Wind Power Industry May Struggle To Keep Up, As Nation Adds 2.5 GW Per Year By 2016

It's a tough but somewhat enviable spot to be in: Research from RenewableUK shows that growth in offshore wind power in the UK is such that Britain's supply chain will have a hard time keeping up by 2013 and 2014.

The RenewableUK numbers, reported by Reuters, show Britain adding 1.2 GW of offshore wind power in 2012, and will hit 2.5 GW annually by 2016 -- even with the project bottleneck in 2013-2014.

This level of growth means that the UK will remain at the top of the heap for offshore wind power over the next five years, Renewable UK says.

Currently, Britain has 1.53 GW of offshore wind power capacity spread over 14 projects -- out of a total wind power capacity of 5.77 GW (onshore and offshore, represented on the map above in blue dots). The nation has an additional 2.1 GW of offshore wind power under construction, and a further 1.63 GW approved and awaiting start of construction.